Elm Wood Online

At Elm Wood Primary School Every Child Matters.

www.thinkuknow.co.uk

NOTE: All links from this site will open in a new Window.

Some useful sites to help children understand e-safety

	http://www.bbc.co.uk/cbbc/help/safesurfing/index.shtml Useful for an introduction to e-safety issues.

	http://www.chatdanger.com/ Useful for disscussing and investigating issues around instant messaging, chat rooms, mobile phone texting and useing e-mail.

	http://www.swgfl.org.uk/safety/safetyresourcesyp.asp?page=yp_resources&audienceid=6 Lots of links to other sites for games and activities covering different areas of e-safety from cyber-bullying to identity management safety.

	http://www.fkbko.co.uk/EN.php?lang=EN&&subject=0&&id=0&&level=0 For Kids By Kids Online - FKBKO: The Internet Proficiency Scheme has been developed to help teachers educate children at Key Stage 2 about staying safe on the Internet. The scheme has been developed by Becta, the Department for Education and Skills (DfES) and the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA), and aims to develop a set of safe and discriminating behaviours for pupils to adopt when using the Internet and other technologies.

	http://www.gridclub.com/freearea/tasters/cybercafe/base.htm Test your knowlege in this virtual cybercafe - topics include: SMS text messaging, email, instant messaging, on-line forums etc.

	http://www.kidsmart.org.uk/movies/Safe_Surfing.swf Find out more about safe surfing with Dongal and this interactive video.

Some useful information and sites for parents concerned about e-safety issues.

Your school will have an Internet Acceptable Use Policy (AUP) in place that will outline to you and your children safe working practices and procedures for reporting any breaches in security etc.

If your child is upset by anything they have viewed on the Internet, or are the subject of bullying at school you should discuss the matter immediately with the head teacher.

Why do Schools Use the Internet?

The Internet is a huge invaluable resource that children use for:

Finding Information – Approximately 4 billion WebPages.
Contacting others – E-mail, Chat, instant messaging.
Online Games Buying Online – Books, Games, CD’s, DVD’ etc

In addition to the above, changes in the way children learn have forced developments in accessing school work from home via an Internet connection – for example the newly launched BBC Digital Curriculum will contain over 120 GB of information and access to school computers from home will mean children can continue to study away from the school environment. Unfortunately not everybody who publish websites or use the Internet do so with honest intentions and although they are a minority you should be aware of some of the potential hazards to children left alone to use the Internet at home.

Offensive Material – about 4.2 million pornographic websites, growing at an estimated rate of 18,000 daily.
Chat – 30% of children meet somebody new in chat rooms and alarmingly 8% of those go on to meet face to face.
Email – 1 in 4 children are being bullied via mobile phone or online via chat or blog sites.

What can you do to help?

You can help protect your children by following the simple steps below:
Keep a watchful eye on Internet use including E-mail & Chat
Check the history folder of your Internet browser to check what sites have been accessed
Use a child friendly search engine – Yahooligans or Ask Jeeves for Kids etc
Could use IE Content Supervisor – only blocks participating sites
Consider purchasing filter software – netnanny, cyberbloc etc
Consider using a different browser – Firefox?
Enable strict safe searching on search engines

(Above text adapted from: Cumbria Grid for Learning http://www.cumbriagridforlearning.org.uk/index.php?category_id=399 accessed on 03/07/08)

	http://www.childnet-int.org/safety/parents.aspx Few parents understand their children’s cyber culture, that is, the way in which their children use the Internet and mobile phone to work, play and socialise. The issues of safety, privacy, on-line predators and cyber bullying are sometimes complex, both technically and psychologically and parents can struggle to keep up. Childnet aim to empower parents to get involved with their children’s online activities, whatever their level of experience, in order to help their children reap the benefits of the Internet and avoid the dangers.

	http://www.kidsmart.org.uk/POL_IPSA_Mac%2BPC/main.html Parents Online: This animation is designed to be accessible and represent the main concerns that parents have for children from a range of ages and backgrounds.